Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Aunt Hattie's Hermits

As a child, one of my
favorite dessert treats was "Aunt Hattie's Hermits," a raisin-filled spice
cookie in bar form. But all those years, I never knew who Aunt Hattie was. Later,
as the family historian, I had collected all the impersonal, cold hard facts
about Henrietta Josephine Wenz. It was many years before I ever saw her
photograph. Now she seems like an old friend! She was born in Acquackanouk,
Passaic, New Jersey in 1878, lived with her older brother, my great-grandfather,
in 1930, never married, and worked as a housekeeper until she died in
Worcester, Massachusetts in 1943. She is buried in an unmarked grave in Mountain
View Cemetery in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.

I believe the recipe
came from her father, Philip Henry Wenz, a German immigrant to New York and New
Jersey, who was listed as a confectioner, baker or cook in various censuses and
city directories from 1875 to 1902. The photo below is believed to be of
Philip’s bakery wagon in Passaic.

Here is her recipe for
Hermits:

Cream together:

¾ cup shortening or
butter ½ cup molasses

1 ½ cups granulated
sugar 2 eggs

Combine and add to mix:

¼ cup warm water 1 teaspoon baking soda

Combine and add to mix:

3 ½ cups flour ½ teaspoon ground
nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground
cinnamon ½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground
ginger ½ teaspoon ground cloves

Add:

¾ cup raisins ½ cup chopped nuts
(optional)

Spread in greased shallow baking pan or
jelly-roll pan and bake at 375° for about 35-45 minutes.